I have an older boxer that just turned seven on the 7th of this month (Happy birthday Tyson!). He is the perfect example of why you shouldn't get a boxer from a backyard breeder...
At four years of age he was diagnosed with really bad arthritis in his knees. He had been limping for a while, and when I took him in to have it checked, my vet thought it was his ACL. I set up an appt for him to have it fixed, and while under anesthesia, the surgeon did x-rays to confirm the first vets diagnosis. Tyson's left knee was bad already, and his right knee was showing arthritis in the x-ray, but he was not limping on it yet.

Well, he started limping this past year on both back legs. I have him on cosiquin, which helped for a couple of years. But now it seems like it's not as effective. I took him to the vet again today to see what my options are, and they recommended some new medication called Previcox?? I think that's the name. Well, when I got the bill, it was 26.50 for 10 pills!!!

I cannot afford to give my dog a medicine that costs over $75.00 a month!! Please help. Do you have any other recommendations? I thinned him down from 82lbs to 71lbs, and he gets walked daily. We restrict his activity (not letting him run, which is hard to do with a boxer). His will is there, but his body is shutting down.

I hope anyone that has bought a puppy, or is thinking of buying a puppy does their homework. I have a seven year old dog that can barely walk. He looks and acts more like a 10-11 year old dog...
And he just started having incontinence...

My sister's senior Boxer had arthritis as well. She gave him Glycoflex and Chondroitin. She said it helped, but didn't completely alleviate the symptoms. You might pm her and ask for more info. Her username is Samsonsmom

I have cut out all frontline products and use natrual garlic that has worked wonders from this company springtime Inc. They do make a joint supplement that my sister has used for her boxer who is badly bred and weighs over 104lbs. His joints are not the best but after taking these tabs he is moving a lot better.

No meds were any help for Samson, BUT that doesn't mean they won't work for you..Adequen injections(a series of 8 shots), Deramax, Previcox.....I'm also a fan of homeopathic remedies as well, the Springtime products, I wish I had known about back when Samson was suffering...Also, try a heating pad, not real hot and milkd massage, I used to do that for Samson, he really liked it...As for the incontimence, try adding a tsp of parsley daily to his food, works real well fo rht efemales, should do the same for the males..If you have any questions, feel free to PM me..I know how hard it was for us to watch Samson struggle, broke our hearts to see, but as long as he showed he wanted fight, we went on

Thanks guys...I will look into some of these. I just gave him the first Previcox, and then read online that a bunch of people's dogs died...
I seriously hope this makes people think about getting a dog that is not from tested, healthy lines. I have read that some of you had dogs that passed at 13-14 years of age. I will be surprised if he lives to 8 or 9...
I've learned a hard lesson with this. My new pup (the Euro) is from completely health tested lines. I will never buy another dog from a BYB.

Sadly, this is what can happen when buying from a BYB, use your knowledge and hope to educate others...Samson's breeding was questionable as well, I rescued him at age 6, his health was wonderful, I was lucky in that respect, it's just the arthritis that did him in at almost 12, so I feel blessed in that..The one thing I learned from my time with him, count every day as a blessing, and allow him to live his live as he sees fit, that's what we did with Samson, no more tests, no more meds, I wanted him to maintain some dignity along with minimal pain...

Sadly, this is what can happen when buying from a BYB, use your knowledge and hope to educate others...Samson's breeding was questionable as well, I rescued him at age 6, his health was wonderful, I was lucky in that respect, it's just the arthritis that did him in at almost 12, so I feel blessed in that..The one thing I learned from my time with him, count every day as a blessing, and allow him to live his live as he sees fit, that's what we did with Samson, no more tests, no more meds, I wanted him to maintain some dignity along with minimal pain...

That made me tear up...
My parents were huge BYB's, so that is what I grew up with. I look back now at the pics of our boxers and they are all wrong!! Long noses, poor angulation, bad everything. My sister had a male from my parents lines, that she bred, knowing that we had a horrible problem in our lines. I begged her not to, but it was 'her' dog and she chose to do it anyway. My mothers aunt kept one of the pups, and it dropped dead at 5. Something about when they got excited or exercised they would fall over in their tracks. The dog would usually recover in a couple of minutes...but even to a young girl, I knew something wasn't right. And yet they produced three generations of these dogs... My sis thought that because her male did not exhibit any of the problems that he did not have them. It was his puppy that fell over dead at 5, and yet he lived to be 13!!! WTF!!!
My sis has learned the error of her ways. She is the proud owner of a flashy fawn female from champion, health tested lines. Absolutely stunning.